H&R Block Tackles Hipsters & Taxes [Video]

In a marketing move definitely geared towards the college crowd, H&R Block is cashing in on the “Hipster” craze that America is knee-deep in at the moment. They identified the 18-34 year old crowd as the missing customer for them–that is, if they’re not still living with mom and dad.

To quote the new H&R HipsterTaxCrisis site, “It’s a dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about, but the American Hipster is in a deep crisis–a Hipster Tax Crisis. That’s right, they are struggling to properly file taxes in a non-ironic fashion. Eyewear without prescription lenses do not qualify as a medical condition and may not be deducted, scarves cannot be counted as dependents, and tax software is not yet available on vinyl.”

And so we have ESPN’s Kenny Mayne on board as an aging hipster to help coach the young hipsters on how to tax. The big idea is that all you have to do as an American youth during tax season is to share an element of the campaign, or “Hipsterize” a photo of yourself on the website–and every time you do, H&R Block will make a charitable donation to Covenant House, which serves homeless children. Do they serve homeless children black coffee? Do the homeless children burn their tongues because they drink the coffee before it gets cool?

And you can also attend the huge “Hipster Tax Crisis” event, which is on April 1 in Seattle at FRED Wildlife Reserve to participate in the “Irony Games” (see what they did there?) and you get to see Hipster of the Year crowned.

The idea of Official Stereotyped Hipsters struggling to file taxes in a non-ironic way is still pretty funny. Or not. Maybe it’s more cruel than cool. We’re not really sure, so it’s probably best for us to wait a couple of years and see if this thing takes off with the masses. You, however, are free to judge right now…